Mega Man (series)
The Mega Man series, known as Rockman '(ロックマン or Rokkuman) in Japan and often referred as the "original ''Mega Man" or "Mega Man Classic", is the first series of the Mega Man franchise of games. The first game, Mega Man, was released on December 17, 1987 on the Famicom (FC) in Japan and on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America and Europe. Most of the main games in the series are referred to as "Mega Man" (or "Rockman") followed by a number (2, 3, etc.). However, the ninth game in the classic series (not counting the "side-stories") is called Mega Man & Bass. The tenth official game in the classic series is titled Mega Man 9, while the eleventh one is titled Mega Man 10; both of which have a retro look, imitating the 8-bit appearance of the NES Mega Man games. Story The basic story of the series revolves around the robot engineer Dr. Thomas Light, his robotic "children", Rock / Mega Man (a lab-assistant) and Roll (a housekeeper), and their struggle against Dr. Albert W. Wily. The series is set in the early-21st century. Games Below is a list of games ordered by the timeline of the Mega Man series. See the game pages for more details of the story. '''Main timeline: *''Mega Man'' (Rock became Mega Man in May 25, 20XX.) **''Mega Man Powered Up'' (remake of the first game) *''Mega Man 2'' (200X, as shown in the opening. Starts in June 9, one year (and 2 weeks) after the first game.) *''Mega Man 3'' (20XX, as shown in the Rockman Complete Works official site and in the back of the original Japanese box. Of note, the Wii Virtual Console manual shows the year 200X. Gamma is stolen in August 28.) *''Mega Man 4'' (One year after Mega Man 3, as shown in the NES and Virtual Console manuals.) *''Mega Man 5'' (20XX, as shown in the opening. About two months after Mega Man 4.) *''Mega Man 6'' (One year after Mega Man 5.) *''Mega Man 7'' (Six months after Mega Man 6, as shown in the opening) *''Mega Man 8'' *''Mega Man & Bass'' *''Mega Man 9'' *''Mega Man 10'' Game Boy games: The exact time those games take place in the story is unknown, but they happen sometime between the games listed in parentheses due to elements present on them. *''Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge'' (after Mega Man 2) *''Mega Man II'' (after Mega Man 3) *''Mega Man III'' (after Mega Man 4) *''Mega Man IV'' (between Mega Man 5 and Mega Man 6) *''Mega Man V'' (20XX, between Mega Man 5 and Mega Man 6) Arcade games: *''Mega Man: The Power Battle'' (After Mega Man 7) *''Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters'' (Half a year after Mega Man 8) Other games: *''Mega Man: The Wily Wars'' *''Wily and Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise'' (After Mega Man 4) *''Mega Man's Soccer'' (A few months after Mega Man 4) *''Super Adventure Rockman'' (After Mega Man 5) *''Mega Man: Battle & Chase'' (After Mega Man 8) *''Mega Man Pinball'' *''Mega Man Rush Marine'' *''Chokkan! Rockman'' *''Rockman Diver'' *''Rockman GP'' *''Rockman no Dot Art Logic'' *''Rockman Panic Fire'' *''Rockman Poker'' *''Rockman Slot'' *''Rockman Solitaire'' *''Rockman Space Rescue'' *''Rockman Tennis'' *''Rockman The Puzzle Battle'' *''Tobe! Rockman'' *''Mega Man Universe'' (Cancelled) Licensed games: Games that were licensed by Capcom. Their canon is questionable, and some may not be part of the Mega Man timeline. Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha is the only to have been referred in a later game, Mega Man ZX Advent, namely. It is also the only licensed game to be included in the book R20 Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works. *''Mega Man'' (PC) *''Mega Man 3'' (PC) *''Mega Man'' (Game Gear) *''Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha'' *''Rockman Strategy'' *''Rockman Gold Empire'' *''Street Fighter X Mega Man'' Notes *The first games take place in the ambiguous years of "200X" (the first decade of the 21st century), which is shown in the opening scenes of Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 4. Mega Man 5 was the first game to directly reference the more ambiguous year of "20XX", which is used in later games. The MegaMan Battle Network series also take place in "200X" in early games, and later takes place in "20XX". **It has never been directly stated whether the transition from 200X to 20XX was meant to show a transition in time or to provide for more ambiguity. However, events that have been retconned to 20XX can still take place in the 200X time period, as 20XX simply means somewhere between 2000 and 2099. **The year of Mega Man Powered Up, the remake of the first game, is listed as 20XX, but the narrator pronounces it as "200X". **Although Mega Man 4 uses 200X in the opening scene, the scene is mentioning the events of previous games, so it is possible it could take place in either 200X or 20XX. **The year of Rockman and Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha is listed as 200X. *The opening of Mega Man 4 states that Mega Man had defeated Wily three times before the game, but it is mentioning only the previous three games, ignoring other games. Similarly, Mega Man V says Wily's fourth attempt to conquer the world has failed thanks to Mega Man, but this only includes the previous Game Boy games. *Capcom has as of yet not revealed what happened to the characters between the classic and X'' series. **A theory popular between fans is that Zero killed the main cast when he was activated, which originated from the webcomic ''Bob and George. In an interview with Ryan Scott of 1Up.com, Capcom's Hironobu Takeshita said that the idea of Zero activating and fighting and/or killing Mega Man and company "seems like a rumor that goes around in certain circles, but it is not official. Certainly, the two series are set in different time periods, but they share the same spectacular world. There might be a bridge for the chronological gap someday, but I don't think it's time yet." Keiji Inafune stated that Zero didn't do this. However, Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters reveals that Wily did at least originally intend to use Zero to destroy both Mega Man and Bass. **Other common theories is that Mega Man and company live normally until the end of their lives (which is supported by Auto's cameo appearance in Mega Man X3, although it could be only a gameplay extra), or they were deactivated and sent to a robot museum after an unknown time. Mega Man could also have been captured by Wily and turned into Quint. Proto Man probably succumbed to the lethal breakdown of his nuclear reactor, unless he was finally repaired by Dr. Light. However, all of these are only speculations. *It is unknown exactly when X was sealed by Dr. Light as the only date given is the time Light wrote his message September 18, 20XX. X was initially meant to be sealed for 30 years, but apparently he ended up being sealed away for a longer time. He was unsealed by Dr. Cain in 21XX.